The Highwayman
by Chi Senshi
Summary: A tragic songfic. gore, swearing, Character death


"The Highwayman"  
  
Summary: A sad song-fic about Kagome and Inu-yasha.   
  
WARNING: CHARACTER DEATH Some OOC parts, probably.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Inu-yasha© and never will. I also don't own the   
song "The Highway Man" which belongs to the beautiful Loreena McKennitt. The words   
belong to the brillant poet, Alfred Noyes. And, of course, please don't sue me--  
I'm not doing anything wrong. Thank you for taking the time to read this.  
  
Author's note: (The song will be written in-between in   
{brackets}.) Fic #3.  
  
LESS IMPORTANT WARNING: THIS IS A RATHER LONG SONG/STORY!   
  
--- Chi Senshi  
  
_______________________________________________________________________  
  
Kagome stared out of the window at the trees as they blew in the swift   
night breeze. It was the full moon tonight; Inu-yasha had left for the   
transformation. She wished he would come back...she was getting lonely.   
The light of the moon grew dark and then bright again as a thick cloud   
passed over it. She saw something move in the distance, a quick figure   
moving from tree to tree. Kagome closed the window shutters and sat on   
her bed; hoping it was Inu-yasha, but not wanting to see--in case it   
was someone else.  
  
  
{The wind was a torrent of darkness...among the gusty trees.}  
{The moon was a ghostly galleon...tossed upon the cloudy seas.}  
  
  
Inu-yasha came jumping from tree to tree in the new night. His dark   
black hair blowing back in the wind. The fire rat haori blowing back   
just the same; he held onto the Tetsusaiga's hilt lightly while soaring   
through the bright evening sky. He was heading for the hut where he   
left Kagome; he had heard a rumor of a Shikon shard and just had to look   
for it. But...he wanted to say good-bye to Kagome, in case...something   
happened to him in his human form.   
  
He arrived and walked up to the front door and knocked. There was no   
answer, and it was locked...for some strange reason. Kagome was in the   
back room and so could hear nothing. He went around the hut and tapped   
on the shutters; they were locked as well.  
  
Kagome looked up at the shutters, afraid to open them. She   
nervously combed her hair.  
  
  
{The road was a ribbon of moonlight...over the purple moor.}  
{And the highwayman came riding...riding...riding...}  
{The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn-door.}  
  
{He'd a French cocked hat on his forehead, a bunch of lace at his chin,  
A coat of claret velvet, and breeches of brown doe-skin;  
They fitted with never a wrinkle; his boots were up to the thigh!  
And he rode with a jewelled twinkle,  
His pistol butts a-twinkle,  
His rapier hilt a-twinkle, under the jewelled sky.}  
  
  
"Kagome...it's Inu-yasha." He said softly.  
  
Kagome stood and went to open the shutters; a small squeak issued   
from them. "Inu-yasha...?" She stepped back slowly to let him enter.  
  
He smiled handsomely, "Of course..." He jumped onto the window-  
sill, he sat leaning against the window jam, one foot on the sill and   
bent, the other stretched to the floor, he crossed his arms and looked   
at her.   
  
She looked beautiful to him this night. Only a few candles burned in the   
room, flickering behind her gently, making her look as if she were radiating   
with loveliness. The full moon splashed across her face gently, making   
it look all the more gentle and soft and sweet; especially with the   
slight blush that played upon her cheeks.  
  
  
{Over the cobbles he clattered and clashed in the dark inn-yard,  
And he tapped with his whip on the shutters, but all was locked and   
barred;  
He whistled a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there  
But the landlord's black-eyed daughter,   
Bess the landlord's daughter,  
Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair.}  
  
  
"Kagome, I located a shard..."  
  
"Really? Then what are we waiting for?"  
  
"You can't come." He told her gently.  
  
"What!? But, I have to come with you! Don't make me-" He cut   
her off by moving quickly forward off the sill and taking her hands in   
his. He looked deeply into her eyes, searching.   
  
"Kagome...you can't come. It's too dangerous, I want you to   
stay here. Stay safe. Do you understand...?" He gently raised one hand   
to her cheek. "You're much to precious to me. If something happens to me,   
you'll have no way to protect yourself."  
  
She stared at him, his eyes, his hair...his lips. She returned   
her gaze to his eyes. "But..." She wanted to argue that she should come  
along, but something in his face told her she should stay.  
  
He shook his head; she put her open hand on top of the one he   
had placed upon her cheek. "I may return tomorrow morning, but if I   
don't I'll come as soon as I can. Perhaps tomorrow night. Wait for me."  
  
  
{"One kiss my bonny sweetheart, I'm after a prize tonight,  
But I shall be back with the yellow gold before the morning light;   
Yet if they press me sharply, and harry me through the day,  
Then look for me by the moonlight,  
Watch for me by the moonlight, though Hell shall bar the way."}   
  
"You...better come back to me Inu-yasha."  
  
He grinned. "What kind of talk is that...? Of course I will."   
He took a hold of her and gave her a gentle, loving hug.  
  
"Promise me."  
  
"......I promise."   
  
She kissed him on the cheek. "Good."   
  
{He rose upright in the stirrups;  
He scarce could reach her hand.  
But she loosened her hair i' the casement;}  
  
While Kagome pressed her face into the curve of the base of his neck,  
he blushed.  
  
{His face burnt like a brand}  
  
He nuzzled against her soft hair for the last time, swimming in her scent.  
Inu-yasha stroked the back of her head gently.  
  
{As the black cascade of perfume came tumbling over his breast;}  
  
He placed his lips on her head and gently let go, heading back to the   
window, wanting to leave before he regretted having to leave moreso  
than he already did.  
  
"Inu-yasha!" Kagome grabbed his lower arm with both her hands.  
"Please, take me with you..."  
  
Inu-yasha turned to look at her. He traced her jaw with a finger, gently.  
"Kaede will be here to protect you, I must do this alone..." He leaned  
forward and kissed her deeply for a few moments, tasting a new sweetness about  
her that he didn't know existed. When he pulled back, they both were blushing.  
  
Inu-yasha jumped out of the window before Kagome could think clearly.  
  
He ran quickly down the road pausing only for a moment upon the crest to turn   
back and stare at Kagome's window,-Kagome was there, staring back-a hand  
resting on his hilt.   
  
The wind whipped his dark hair about his face before he turned and ran into  
the forest.  
  
{And he kissed its waves in the moonlight,  
(oh sweet waves in the moonlight!)  
Then he tugged at his rein in the moonlight,   
and galloped away to the west.}  
  
Kagome closed the shutters after she was sure he head dissappeared over   
the horizon. She laid on the small bed and stared at the ceiling until  
the light of dawn peeked through the cracks in the window shutters.  
  
Kagome raised off the bed and opened the window, staring out at the  
vista, watching for her love. "Inu-yasha..." she sighed. "Where  
are you?"  
  
{He did not come at the dawning;}  
  
She sat in front of the window watching the road all day long. Kaede left  
during mid-afternoon to tend to some sick in a nearby village.  
  
{He did not come at noon.}  
  
As the sun began to set she saw shadows move out onto the road from the   
cover of the forest. Kagome gasped as she recognized the shadows as they   
walked straight towards the hut. She closed the wooden cover slightly as  
she studied the approaching evil.  
  
Sesshoumaru was leading the small group.   
  
Jaken was following his master closely; Kikyo, The Thunder Brothers, and,  
strangest of all, Kouga, were with Sesshoumaru.  
  
{And out of the tawny sunset, before the rise of the moon,  
When the road was a gypsy's ribbon, looping the purple moor,   
A red coat troop came marching,  
Marching, marching,  
King George's men came marching, up to the old inn-door.}  
  
Kagome closed the shutters in a panic. Kaede had left earlier, and there   
was no way she was going to get out of there before they made it to the   
door, undetected.  
  
There was a sudden crashing sound that made Kagome jump; they had bashed   
in the front door. Frantic for a way out, she went to the window. Opening  
it, the Thunder Brothers were standing there in her way, they looked at   
her. Manten put a hand on her forehead and pushed her back into the room.  
Hiten closed the shutters; Kagome, on her backside, breathed shallowly in fear.  
  
/Inu-yasha...where are you!? Please hurry back! What do they want from me?  
Inu-yasha!!/  
  
The door to her room crashed inward, making Kagome yell and jump again.  
  
{They said no word to the landlord, they drank his ale instead.}  
  
Sesshoumaru walked up and grabbed Kagome by the throat and lifted her off   
the floor.  
  
"Where is he you worthless human?"  
  
Kagome grabbed at his hands trying to tear them away from her neck. "I-I..."  
she replied, choking.  
  
Sesshoumaru threw her harshly onto the floor. "Nevermind...we'll just wait  
for him to return to us instead."  
  
Kagome had hit her head on the floor and the room was spinning. She groaned  
from the pain and slowly sat up, only to be grabbed again from behind by   
Kouga. He held her arms behind her back and forced her to the edge of her bed.  
  
"Don't worry, my love," he said to her. "As soon as that bastard half-demon  
is dead, we'll be together." He kissed her cheek and smiled. "You are my  
woman, and no silver-haired freak is going to keep us apart."   
  
Jaken was swiftly binding her wrists together, and tying them to the bedpost.  
Sesshoumaru tied a rag roughly in her mouth,--before she could say anything  
to any of them,--around her head gagging her. Kagome's eyes were starting to   
fill with tears as she looked at Kouga and shook her head. she looked at  
Sesshoumaru imploring him silently to let her and Inu-yasha go. They played   
and laughed at her.  
  
{But they gagged his daughter and bound her to the foot of her narrow bed;}  
  
Sesshoumaru was looking proud of himself for something suddenly. "Look what  
I found sometime in the near future." To Kagome's horror and confusement,  
he pulled out a shotgun from the main room of the hut.  
  
The demon was boasting a crooked smirk, "As you should know, dear Kagome,  
I have my sources, along with a Shikon shard or two somewhere under my   
jurisdiction. I know of your quaint little Bone-Eater's Well, and had someone  
take a trip for me into your time. They found this lovely little toy there.  
A 'gun' they called it. It works as well; I thought you would like to see my   
accomplishment, and also know what would kill your precious man." Kikyo walked  
in at this time with her bow in hand.  
  
"I will finally take him to Hell Kagome, and this time, there wont be anything  
you can do about it." Kagome glared at Kikyo, her cheeks starting to burn in   
anger. She fought the ropes, trying to get at Kikyo or Sesshoumaru. Jaken took   
the gun from his master and walked towards Kagome with more rope.  
  
She kicked at the little frog-thing, but he simply moved out ot the way. Having   
Kouga press the shotgun against her stomach with the barrel pressing into the area  
just to the left of the breast bone, Jaken tied it securely against her with more  
rope.  
  
Sesshoumaru opened the shutters, "Hiten, Manten, get in here." They did as told.  
  
"What Sesshoumaru?" Hiten asked, flipping his hair over his shoulder.  
  
He glared at Hiten, "You will sit beside the window and watch for the bastard."  
  
"I thought we were doing that outside."  
  
"Do you want him to see you before he gets close enough?"  
  
"..." Hiten glared at Sesshoumaru. "Fine. Manten, get to the window."  
  
"Yes, wonderful brother." They kneeled at the window watching the dark road.  
Kagome, unsure of what else to do, stared at the window, thinking of how to escape,  
and watching through the slat to the road beyond.  
  
{Two of them knelt at the casement, with muskets at their side!  
There was death at every window,  
And hell at one dark window;  
For Bess could see through the casement, the road that he would ride.}  
  
{They tied her up to attention, with many a sniggering jest;  
They had bound a musket beside her, with the barrel beneath her breast!  
"Now keep good watch!" and they kissed her.}  
  
The night was getting deeper, Kagome listened as her watch, in the other corner   
of the room beeped every hour. It was probably about 9:00 by now. Even if it was   
hard to stay awake, she did anyway. She wouldn't let these jackasses do _anything_  
to hurt Inu-yasha, if she had anything to say about it.   
  
She wished Inu-yasha would come soon and save her, but like before, something  
told her that wasn't what was going to happen. And tonight was either her last,  
or his.  
  
{She heard the dead man say-  
Look for me by the moonlight, I'll come to thee by the moonlight  
Though hell should bar the way!}  
  
Kagome started twisting her hands around, trying to get them loose from the ropes.  
She worked continually, even when her hands became numb from the pinched nerves.  
She felt the ropes slipping slightly, she held down her excitement of the act of   
getting free, in case Sesshoumaru woud be able to smell that happiness and get  
suspicious.   
  
Everyone was too busy planning, or resting their eyes to notice her moving the shotgun  
handle around to her side by pushing it aginst the bedpost. The barrel was still  
lodged in the same place, but that was for the best.   
  
If she couldn't get out of the ropes completely she would simply warn him another way.  
Being human, Inu-yasha's senses weren't as in-tune, so she would warn him with the   
sound of the shotgun--somehow. Inu-yasha had never heard its sound before, it would surely  
get him to flee.  
  
The watch beeped midnight and her wrist slipped a little more from the ropes and she   
touched the trigger, barely. She felt some liquid fall from her hand, she wasn't sure  
if it was sweat of something else, but at the moment, she really didn't care.  
  
The was a sudden sound outside that caught her attention, a subtle sound in the   
distance, but she recognised that sound in an instant, Kagome gasped inwardly  
and stared at the window. /Finally.../  
  
{She twisted her hands behind her, but all the knots held good!  
She writhed her hands till her fingers were wet with sweat or blood!  
They stretched and strained in the darkness and the hours crawled by like years!  
Till, now on the stroke of midnight,   
The tip of her finger touched it  
The trigger at least was hers.}  
  
/Inu-yasha's coming./ She heard his feet jumping from branch to branch, she had  
learned how to pick up on those subtle sounds so she would always know when  
Inu-yasha was approaching.  
  
{Tlot-tlot! Had they heard it? The horse-hoofs were ringing clear,}  
  
Nobody heard those movements and Kagome thought they must be dead not to hear such   
a distinguishable sound. Hiten and Manten must have been asleep, because they didn't  
see him. Inu-yasha was appearing and disappearing over the road leading to the village.  
She stared in fright, thinking of what might happen, if her were to make it to the hut.  
  
{Tlot-tlot, in the distance! Were they deaf that they did not hear?  
Down the ribbon of moonlight, over the brow of the hill, The Highwayman came riding,  
Riding, riding,}  
  
With a finger resting on the shotgun trigger, Kagome stood to her full height,  
staring at the window shutters.  
  
Hiten and his brother had heard Inu-yasha slightly, and woke up, they looked back at  
Sesshoumaru. "We think he is coming."  
  
"Good. I want you-," he caught sight of Kagome moving in the darkness out of   
the corner of his eye. She was standing stright. "to kill him as soon as he's in   
range." Kagome stiffened even more; her face was strong and determined and shining   
in the weak candlelight.  
  
Kikyo looked at Kagome, walked over and slapped her. "Don't start trying to play   
heroine now bitch." Kagome glared at her and growled behing the gag. Kikyo laughed,   
"You're starting to sound like Inu-yasha!" Kikyo slapped her again, "Stop it."  
  
{The red-coats looked to their priming! She stood up straight and still!}  
  
{Tlot, in the frosty silence! Tlot, in the echoing night!  
Nearer he came and nearer! Her face was like a light!  
Her eyes grew wide for a moment!}  
  
Kagome heard him, his jumping sounds were getting louder. This was it, there   
was no turning back now, there was no time. /I'm sorry Mom, Grandpa,Sota.......  
Inu-yasha, I love you./ She took a deep breath, tightened her muscles   
involuntarily, and closed her eyes tightly. /It'll only hurt for a moment.../   
She told herself.  
  
{She took one last deep breath,}  
  
Her finger twitched, pulling the trigger, her eyes shot open in pain as she   
let out a yelp.  
  
{Then her finger moved in the moonlight,}  
  
Blood, muscle, bone, and lead shot out of her back. Her body arched as blood   
sprayed from blown arteries. Kagome's body slumped to its knees.  
  
{Her musket shattered the moonlight.}  
  
Kouga stared in disbelief as the shotgun made a huge sound and the next thing   
he knew, Kagome was on the ground with her own blood haloing her, rapidly growing   
bigger in size around her lifeless form. Part of her spine was poking out of the   
hole in her chest. He ran over to her, "Kagome!" He fell to his knees next to her   
and lifted her face, only to see dead eyes staring at him, her mouth slightly open.   
  
{Shattered her breast in the moonlight!}  
  
He was speechless, he continued staring at her; she was covered with her own   
blood, her flawless face was splattered with red, and he could even see through   
her chest to the floor beneath her. Kouga had never wanted to see Kagome in such   
a horrid state; he backed away with his mouth hanging open. His hands were covered   
with her blood.  
  
Kikyo had backed away quickly from Kagome as the shotgun had sounded, too surprised   
to think Kagome might have taken her own life. Her sense returning to her, she soaked in   
all the gory details of Kagome's corpse, so she could tell Inu-yasha all the wonderful  
particulars once she had him in Hell with her, later tonight.  
  
Hiten covered his mouth as he watched the hole blow out of the girl's back, almost in   
slow motion. He was at a loss for words; however, looking at Sesshoumaru, he was   
more appalled by Sesshoumaru's reaction then the red corpse of the girl.  
  
Manten hid behind his hands, asking his older brother to keep him safe. He didn't   
know what was going on.  
  
Sesshoumaru had watched the death of Kagome in a stunned silence. When Kouga had   
backed away from Kagome he opened his mouth to do one thing. Laugh.  
  
  
{And warned him with her death.}  
  
Inu-yasha, not that far away, jumped when he heard a loud bang. Unable to smell   
anything other than blood, he got frightened. He thought perhaps that Kagome was warning  
him of a trap she had seen set up. Hoping she had gotten away, he turned and ran   
back the way he came towards the nearest village. Maybe she would go there.  
  
{He turned; he spurred to the West; he did not know she stood   
Bowed, with her head o'er the musket, drenched with her own red blood!}  
  
When the morning came he was sitting on a roof watching for Kagome, and smelling   
for her. He was disappointed when he caught the scent of another person that was   
familiar to him. Kaede.   
  
/What the hell is _she_ doing here?/ He thought. Jumping down, he made his way   
over to the old woman, who wasn't looking to happy at the moment.  
  
"Where's Kagome you old bag!?"  
  
Kaede turned to him. She looked even older than usual. "Inu-yasha..."  
  
He stared at her, not wanting to believe the story his mind was making up.   
"Kaede, where is she?" The old woman's eyes were teary. She removed the necklace   
from his neck slowly. "You are free Inu-yasha....Kagome is dead."  
  
"WHAT?" His face lost all color. "She-Kagome...can't be dead!"  
  
"But..she is..just like Ki-...I've lost both of them!" The old woman broke down,   
crying on the ground, Inu-yasha grabbed her shoulders, "How can you be sure??"  
  
"A young man from the village came running last night after the incident   
happened, he heard a noise and looked in the window a little bit after, and-"   
Kaede broke down again, shaking her head. "If I hadn't left!" Inu-yasha let go   
of her, "I'm going to find out who did this...and kill them!" He jumped off and   
ran at full speed towards the other village.  
  
{Not till the dawn he heard it; his face grew gray to hear  
How Bess the landlord's daughter, the landlord's black-eyed daughter,  
Had watched for her love in the moonlight, and died in the darkness there.}  
  
Inu-yasha ran into the hut and into Kagome's room. She was still there. But it   
wasn't his Kagome, her skin was as pale as the bleached bedrock of the nearby   
river. He stopped as he caught sight of the hole in her chest. He fell to his   
knees and touched her hair and face, there was no heat, and there was no smell   
on her but that of her blood.  
  
He touched her lips, everything was hard and rigid about her. Her eyes still stared at   
him glazed and filled with hope. He clutched her body close to him, but it didn't feel   
right. She looked so frail, and...dead. There was nothing left of her soul in the shell   
he was holding.  
  
He grabbed the bed with one hand and placed her back on the ground in the puddle of her   
sticky blood. He idly noticed the Shikon jewel being gone, but it didn't matter to him   
anymore. He plunged a claw into that blood, as tears ran down his cheek freely.   
  
"Sesshoumaru..." He growled through clenched teeth. His brother's scent was in this room,   
along with Hiten, Manten, and Kouga. Leaving the hut, he set off towards the castle of   
his brother.  
  
Inu-yasha's sword was out and in one hand while he screamed about how he would kill   
Sesshoumaru for what he did.  
  
{Back, he spurred like a madman, shrieking a curse to the sky  
With the whit road smoking behind him and his rapier brandished high!  
Blood-red were the spurs i' the golden sun; wine-red was his velvet coat,}  
  
Passing a tree, he heard a rustle and then a long-forgotten feeling. An arrow   
piercing his heart.  
  
The same type of arrow Kikyo had shot through him so long ago. And now he was   
pinned to another tree. Watching as Kikyo herself approached. "Damn you..." He said.  
  
"Ah, my dear Inu-yasha, you know it's to late for that, and now I'll take you with   
me to Hell, I'll tell you all about the the brat's death. Every. Last. Gory.   
Detail, my love."  
  
He struggled against the arrow's magic as everything started to go black.   
"Sesshoumaru....how dare you..."  
  
"Don't worry about him Inu-yasha...you're with me now."  
  
{When they shot him down on the highway,  
Down like a dog on the highway,  
And he lay in his blood on the highway, with a bunch of lace at his throat.}  
  
Kikyo grabbed Inu-yasha's hand and they were pulled into the deep abyss below.  
  
Sesshoumaru sat in his castle happy to finally be rid of Inu-yasha. Jaken, brought him   
the Tetsusaiga that had dropped from Inu-yasha's frozen hand. He also had, in his hand,   
the Shikon no Tama, ripped from Kagome's body. Life was good.  
  
{Still of a winter's night, they say, when the wind is in the trees,  
When the moon is a ghostly galleon, tossed upon the cloudy seas,  
When the road is a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor,  
A highwayman comes riding,  
Riding, riding,  
A highwayman comes riding, up to the old inn-door.} 


End file.
